Court Weighs Facebook’s Right to Challenge Search Warrants on Users’ Behalf

The thorny issue of Internet privacy was taken up by a New York State appeals court, as judges seemed to be troubled that prosecutors in Manhattan had secretly searched the entire Facebook accounts of about 300 people who were not charged with a crime. But the judges also questioned whether Facebook had a legal right to challenge the search warrants on behalf of its users, no matter how broad or questionable in scope the warrants were.

The five-judge panel in Manhattan, led by Presiding Justice Luis A. Gonzalez, of the Appellate Division for the First Department, must determine if Facebook and other social media companies can challenge search warrants in court when they believe the government’s request tramples on the right of their customers to be protected from unreasonable searches.